Can you feel the magic?

Do you remember doing that weird thing with your arms when you were a young teenager? You know, the trick where you took turns with your friends standing in a doorway with your arms by your side and the back of your hands pressed hard against the frame? You applied pressure for a full minute then released it and stepped from the doorway. Letting your arms go slack you impressed your friends and yourself when your arms began to slowly rise all on their own.

It was as if someone had cast a magic spell on your body, wasn’t it?

Well, here’s another trick to try, but this one reveals our life force. No, I’m not talking about the Force as in Star Wars, but this was what George Lucas was thinking about when he created the powers for the Jedi Knight.

Just about every language has a word for this life force. These are just a few:

ki – Japanese

orenda – Iroquois

ankh – ancient Egyptian

prana – Hindu yoga

secret fire – alchemy

önd – Norse

The Druid name is nwyfre (pronounced NOO-iv-ruh).

In everyday use, we might call it gut feeling or intuition. Either way, we’re talking about our “perceptions of flow and pattern in the life force”.

Believe it or not, our bodies are surrounded by a force. Perhaps it’s a weak magnetic field. Still, it’s there, and you can feel it.

Prove it! you say.

Okay, but you have to get out of your chair.

Stand with your feet parallel about twelve inches apart and your knees slightly bent. Let your arms hang loose at your side and shake them for a full minute. Let your shoulders and elbows generate the motion and allow your hands to flop around at will. When you’re done, hold your palms flat facing each other. Close your eyes and concentrate on your hands as you slowly move them together –but don’t let them touch – and then apart. Never move them more than an inch away from each other.

What do you feel?

Does it feel as though your hands are two magnets? And does it feel as if they attract and repel each other? If so, you’ve just felt nwyfre. The longer you move your hands together and apart, the stronger the pull. And if you do this once a day for a week, the feeling gets stronger. This life force is always surrounding us, but we’ve been trained to ignore it.

Try it and let me know what you think. Get the kids to do it. They’ll think your some type of wizard.

This magic exercise was found in The Druid Magic Handbook ~ Ritual Magic Rooted in the Living Earth by John Michael Greer, author of The Druidry Handbook.

Thanks, Laura. I think these little things we can do — whether you believe it’s magic or numbness or whatever — with our bodies is pretty cool, too. The first time I tried it, I couldn’t believe what I was feeling.

Book 2 in the Castle Keepers Fantasy Series: Bronwyn Darrow is desperate to rescue his daughter Isla from Blackvale Castle. For five long years, he’s travelled Ath-o’Lea searching for her, but the formidable castle remains elusive. He’s surrendered his coveted sergeant’s position at Aruam Castle, but he’s willing to sacrifice everything—even his honour—to bring Isla home. If he fails, his innocent little girl will face a lifetime of slavery.